Wife of imprisoned ex-sheriff gets 180 days jail

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. — The wife of an imprisoned former Illinois sheriff has been sentenced to a half-year behind bars after admitting she harassed witnesses in the marijuana-trafficking case against her spouse.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that 39-year-old Kristina Martin also was fined $25,000 and ordered to do 250 hours of community service as part of her sentence Wednesday in Jackson County.

She pleaded guilty to harassing witnesses against former Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond Martin before he was accused of trafficking marijuana while on the job. He also was convicted of soliciting a foiled plot to kill witnesses against him.

Raymond Martin was sentenced last year to life in federal prison. But a federal appellate court in Chicago has thrown out that punishment. He's waiting to be resentenced.